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Sunday, 12 February 2012

'Drive' Film Review

Critically acclaimed, 'Drive' is an artistic film to be read into, though definitely not one for the family.

~~~THOUGHTS ON PLOT~~~

A stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) who doubles as a getaway driver falls for neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan). When her husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) returns from prison and gets asked to do one last job for his freedom, Driver offers to be his driver. But when the heist goes wrong and Standard is killed, Driver does everything he can to protect Irene and her son Benicio.

The pace is good and the plot is mostly linear with slight potential deviation. After an extremely intense opening getaway scene, the pace slows right now and gradually builds up again, along with the gore content, which is mostly artistic though still a tad repulsive. However, I loved the beauty of the car and the expression of love, danger, violence, death that is encapsulated with the vehicle.

The nameless driver played by Gosling is cold when it comes to the job but the development of the character is superb. Though a man of few words, the character shines through the expressions and definitely is the focal point of the movie.

The climax of the film wasn't as exciting as expected. The film slowly wound down into a cathartic, somewhat tragic conclusion.

Ryan Gosling did a fantastic job in the lead role and definitely shoud've received more recognition for his contribution to film this year! Carey Mulligan also was memorable, though perhaps her performance here will be overshadowed by her role in 'Shame'.

~~~OVERALL~~~

Despite being highly acclaimed during the festival circuit, the film only received one Oscar nomination... for sound editing. This underrated film is artistic if grostesque at points especially for the calibre of acting by leads Gosling and Mulligan. I'm personally not a fan of the gore and nudity; omitting those, we have a beautiful film about sacrificial love.